Morning journal and courier., 1887-02-14
Oew 28aren @aig agoning goprnal and Gonrift.

in which he laid down the principles upon which in his judgment, the universe ought to be governed both in time and eternity. He was followed by Dr. William M. Taylor, of New York, who began by quoting what Lord Melbourne Or. Taylor said Sidney Smith, but this was a mistake) once said of Macaulay, namely that he wished he could be as sure of anything as Tom Macaulay was of everything. The point of this story was in it's application, which the audience was not slow to make and the Music Hall rang with laughter and applause. We are reminded of the incident by the re- turn of MT. Cook with the regularity of the revolving seasons to his place on the plat form of the Monday leetureship, and by the evident purpose with which he makes his annual appearance to straighten out the little theological diHiculty which has occupied the attention of the people of New England to such an extent during the last few months. Not that he brings any new arguments to the discussion; MT. Cock belongs to the school of theologisns of whom it may be said: ''Theirs not to reason why" We find in his address words, sentences, assertions, excla- nations, but no arguments.
 We cannot help admiring the courage, if not the discretion, with which MT. Cook has come to the defense of the prudential com mittee of the American board. It began to look as though that committee had no friends; and as no one .else would venture to 
 members to whom a reverend brother in replying gave the name of Four Stars, ap- peared in the lists, and unfortunately lost his temper, thereby doing his cause more harm than good. But MT. Cook will now take care of the prudential committee. We hope he will tell it what to do with Mir. Hume, for it is evidently sorely per plexed upon the question. When, however, he charges upon the progressive men in the Congregational body and upon the secular press the responsibility of forcing the issue which now troubles the American board he says what he ought to know to be utterly in- correct He thus refers to the doctrine of possible probation for the heather after death: s'It has almost divided several of our philanthropic societies already. It divided that great meeting at Des Moines. God knows whether it will yet, by the help of the secular press driving the dagger home, divide the American Board itself" Does not MT. Cook know that in the Home Missionary so ciety and in the American Missionary associ- ation there has been no theological agitation or division except es he has attempted in his own speeches to introduce discussion and dissension; and for the reason that the officers of the societies (not close corpora tions) have not imported Prof. Parks person al animosities into their proceedings! Does he not know that Professor Park and Dr. Alden began the agitation at Portland ln 1882 and with the help of the editor of the Congregationalist have kept it up ever since; that all that unpleasant at Des Molnes came from the purpose to punish Prof. Smyth for his independence by rejecting him from the committee; and that the intention has been to use the American board, and those of it's executive officers who would consent to be thus used, to drive Professor Smyth and his associates from Andover? Not upon the progressive theologians surely, who from the first have behaved with marvellous forbearance and seif-restraint, does the re- sponsibility rest for the decision Of the American board but upon those who have persisted and still persist in forcing a per sena and private issue at it's meetings, and in it's management, and upon it's mission aries.
 The reactionary theology has captured the Monday lectureship, we'll as the pruden- tial committee, but it could not capture what it was after at 8 meeting ot the And over alumni two or three years ago, which venturesome attempt has been happily cele- brated in verse by the New York Independent. ''The Three Mighty Men" and their heresy hunt are thus described:
 Our Joseph is mighty man;
 He hurs his words all round the world.
 He shakes his head, as if to say,
 "The biggest word is ME-
 Our Henry is mightier man;
 Jupiter is he;
 More dexterous in horsemanship;
 
 He's liberal an he's orthodox
 In very liberal degree. Our Edwards is the mightiest man, The grandest of the three; No mortal yet could sign creed So lofty as he;
 And he's keen any hound to take
 The scent of heresee.
 They started on heresy hunt
 On Andover hill, these three,
 To empty professors chair
 Too large for our J. O.
 That cbaIr is still quite ably filled
 By better man than he.
 MT Cook closed his attack on progressive orthodoxy Monday with the assertion ''The eyelid is not the eyeball." This, upon such reflection as we have been able to give to the subject, we will concede. But when he asks assent to the further proposition, 'sThat when the eyelid runs as close as this to the eyeball there is not only danger but perilous danger in collision, we must take some time to deliberate before we commit ourselves"